Medway firefighters test new Jaws of Life tools

MEDWAY - In about an hour, two sedans were nearly unrecognizable after the Medway Fire Department got their hands on them Tuesday afternoon.

The department, using their new battery-powered Jaws of Life tools, dismantled the vehicles more quickly, quietly and efficiently as ever.

Jaws of Life are the main tools firefighters use when extricating a person out of a vehicle after a collision and in other emergency scenarios.

The department, using two vehicles donated from Pick-n-Pull in Millis, used their new tools for the first time, and quickly went to work.

First the doors, then the roofs, then everything else.

Charlie Poirier, a salesman with Firematic Supply Company, went over the basic instructions and differences with the firefighters, which aren’t all that different from their current hydraulic tools, he said.

According to Fire Chief Jeff Lynch, the battery-powered tools, including two spreaders, two cutters and two rams, are more portable than hydraulic tools, which are powered by a gas motor.

"If a vehicle is off the road, the hoses get tangled when we walk around the car, especially in the woods at night," he said.

The new tools, he said, operate at a higher pressure and therefore can operate more efficiently.

He added that the tools only make noise when they are engaged, whereas with the hydraulic tools, the noisy motor is constantly running.

"We’d have to be yelling," he said over the sound of twisting metal and breaking glass.

Capt. Joe MacDougall said although the cars were dismantled in a matter of minutes, it would take firefighters much longer to dismantle a car twisted and bent with people trapped inside.

The training, he said, is just to get the department familiar with the new toys.

"We need to be a proficient as possible," he said,

Although Lynch acknowledged firefighters’ pleasure for breaking things, which the new tools allow them to excel at, he said there’s no fun and games when they actually have to be used.

"They’re going to mean the difference between life and death," he said.

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.

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